


Tear You Apart

by KyeAbove



Series: Bittersweetness [2]
Category: Animaniacs, Tom and Jerry (MGM/Hanna-Barbera)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Anxiety, Gen, Homelessness, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28002051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyeAbove/pseuds/KyeAbove
Summary: Returning to his hometown after years away, Yakko meets old friends while searching for Wakko.Set in the same Human AU asGive You What You Like
Relationships: Jerry Mouse & Nibbles Mouse, Thomas "Tom" Cat & Nibbles Mouse, Tom Cat/Jerry Mouse, Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner
Series: Bittersweetness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052063
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Tear You Apart

**Author's Note:**

> Reading Give You What You Like isn't required for this story but it greatly helps for context for the overall universe.

Yakko went to see the world, but ended back here. Not that it was a sorrowful return. He felt a cold air in his chest, and the fear that had been growing in his gut grew too large for him to ignore. Was he doing the right thing or the wrong thing? He hadn't seen his siblings in years. He hadn't even told them he would be coming back. What if they didn't want him back?

The streets were familiar as they ever were. Even with new shops taking the place of most that he grew up with, some sidewalks repaired and some in ruin, this was home. The streets had been his playground. Every empty lot with no owner was his wonderland. 

It didn't feel like home, did it? It wasn't. Burbank had become what he would have considered his true home. 

Yakko slung his heavy backpack higher onto his shoulder, eyes shifting back and forth between a hastily written address on the paper in his hands, and all the unfamiliar stores. He'd found from stalking social media that his brother had opened a restaurant somewhere in this area, but nothing on this street matched the name. Had he miswritten the street number? It was another fear in his gut, and he couldn't even find a cafe that might provide free wifi for him to check Maps. 

He didn't want to mess up this chance purely from a writing mistake. Finding out Wakko was a restaurateur was one of Yakko's proudest moments. His little brother wasn't the best chef when they were kids, but according to interviews his biggest strength was his leadership, and his tastebuds. Every recipe was approved by him first. Wakko would eat just about anything but only the best made it from the kitchen idea board to a customer's plate. 

Wakko had been so vibrant in that interview, but what had broken Yakko's heart was the last line in the video. A little laugh, and then _'I just wish my brother was here to see me.'_ as he stared away from the camera.

Yakko had been all the way in Nice, France, but had scrambled for a ticket that very day, and now he was here. This was where he was born and were he'd raised himself and his siblings. Of course Wakko would come back here too. It wasn't Burbank, but he was determined to make a trip down there as well to visit Dot and their adoptive parents, and all his friends he left behind. For now, Wakko was his priority. If the nostalgic look in Wakko's eyes hadn't just been for the camera, that is. 

It was easy to worry about that. What if Wakko had just been putting on a show for the interviewer? Their antics as children had left them with some of the world's best acting skills. What if Wakko was going to turn him away the moment he laid eyes on Yakko? If not out of anger that Yakko left but thinking he only came back because now Wakko was famous. 

Yakko glanced at the address again. There were so many things that could go wrong. All these what-ifs. What if Wakko wasn't at the resturant today and his employees turned him away thinking he was using the usual stick of being related to the owner that too many customers used. What if Wakko didn't even recognize him anymore? Did Yakko even recognize himself? 

Anxiety enveloped him and he gritted his teeth to avoid any attack in public. He had to keep moving.

"Uncle Jerry, stop it." There was a whinning voice from a nearby bench, and Yakko would have ignored it if not for the second name. 

"Just because you're an adult now doesn't mean you are safe from hair ruffling, Tuffy." Was an amused reply, and Yakko stopped in spot. 

Jerry? Tuffy? Was it really _them?_ Of all chances? He looked at the direction of the voices. There sitting on a bench with a paper bag full of shopping on his lap was a middle aged man ruffling the hair of a man at least a few years younger than Yakko. The middle aged man was a brunet with thick curls, especially around his ears, giving the illusion of mouse-like ears. The young man was a plantinum blond, soft locks falling down to his back. It was them! It had to be them!

"Jerry! Tuffy!" Yakko raced to the familiar men, aged decades just as he had, but old friends all the same. The two men stopped their familial action and surveyed him with suspicion. "It's me, Yakko!" 

It took Tuffy a few seconds to process that statement, his eyebrows knitting in confusion, but Jerry was quick to gasp. "...Yakko? Yakko Warner? I haven't seen you in over twenty years!" 

Yakko rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, after we moved to Burbank it was always hard to plan a visit, even though I wanted to, and then I just-" 

Jerry placed his bag on Tuffy's lap and stood up. He put a hand on Yakko's shoulder, stopping his tumble of words, and then pulled him into a hug. "Don't worry. I'm just happy to see you back." 

"I'm very happy to be here again" Although they were both adults now, this was the same person who first gave Yakko a chance. Saw his face pressed against the screen of his bedroom window, and simply talked to him from the street below. He and his siblings had been practically trapped in that house, and Jerry had helped them escape. Yakko owed so much to this man. 

Jerry had taught he and his siblings how to survive on the streets, and had encouraged them to be as zany as they wanted. They were able to be themselves. No adults to tell them what to. If adults were being mean to them, they could fight back. They couldn't before. 

Yakko hugged back. Maybe this was home after all.


End file.
